The Late-1980s pop culture relic `` 21 Jump Street '' was a primo specimen of a TV police procedural with a catchy hook : A team of fresh-faced cops work undercover as high school kids , reporting back to their tough/earnest boss at the address listed above .

The hit series ran for four years , and was notably progressive in its willingness to incorporate newsmaking social issues , including AIDS , homophobia , and child abuse . But 25 years later , `` 21 Jump Street '' the TV show is remembered primarily as the career kickstarter of Johnny Depp as a young actor with an obvious something . As it turns out , dim memories and a new generation of pop culture consumers work to the great advantage of `` 21 Jump Street '' the movie : What this fast , cheeky , and very funny interpretation of the original premise sacrifices in teachable moments , it makes up for in intelligent giddiness .

Shaped by the precocious comedic smarts of talent-on-a-roll Jonah Hill -LRB- who not only costars but also developed the story with Michael Bacall and is one of the executive producers -RRB- , the movie morphs into an action comedy with a tonal complexity that marks it as a very contemporary creative project . It 's part homage and part wink at the past . It jokes about high school but is also a sensitive sociological study of those crucial years . It bridges slapstick and action . It 's quick-witted with its pop references . Oh , have you heard ? Depp makes a delightful cameo appearance !

On the surface , `` 21 Jump Street '' follows the crime-fighting antics of odd-couple cop partners Schmidt -LRB- Hill -RRB- and Jenko -LRB- Channing Tatum -RRB- . Their wonky dynamic is established in a perfectly placed opening flashback to 2005 , when the two were real high school students -- Schmidt the klutzy , anxious nerd with a brain ; Jenko the athletic , academically challenged coolio . Seven years later , when both police rookies are coincidentally assigned to an undercover -- high schooler program , the duo are prepared to play out those same life scripts , until a mix-up alters fate . Schmidt is assigned a class schedule befitting a popular non-Einstein ; Jenko is shuffled into advanced-placement chemistry . -LRB- '' Ap-chemistry , '' he calls it , laboriously reading his course list . -RRB-

Given a do-over , the two get to reexperience those less than wonder years . They get to work issues out . And by the way they get to bust a drug ring fronted by a smart and popular guy played with oddball charisma by Dave Franco . -LRB- The curiosity is n't that he 's the brother of James Franco ; it 's that he 's so interestingly weird . Okay , like his brother . -RRB-

But that , as I say , is on the surface . Underneath , `` 21 Jump Street '' is a riot of risks that pay off , the biggest of which might be handing Tatum funny business . And now for the revelation : The guy 's got bust-out talents as a really funny , self-aware comic actor . With all appropriate salutes to the busy fellow 's famous abs , and with full forgiveness for his participation in `` The Vow , '' I am feeling the Channing charm for the first time .

And wow , those scenes where the smart actor , playing a '' dumb '' character who realizes he 's not as dumb as he has always believed he is , fakes playing a dumb guy to mess with his smart partner 's head are kind of perfect . Also , Tatum can sustain a great , I mean great , Dumb Face .

Under the limber direction of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller -LRB- `` Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs '' -RRB- , and working from a screenplay by Bacall -- a script jammed , by the way , with so many oinky references to male reproductive equipment that I choose to believe the producers were rising to a dare -- Hill and Tatum play their Mutt-and-Jeff act against a supporting cast equally fast on their feet .

A refresher viewing of any old `` Jump Street '' episode may sharpen your appreciation for the kind of earnest '80s - TV police captain that Ice Cube is tweaking in his funky turn as Schmidt and Jenko 's boss , but the joke is equally welcome without the historical background . Explaining why he 's assigning Schmidt and Jenko to shutting down the school drug ring after the death of one student , the captain tells it true : '' This kid is white , so people actually give a s -- . '' There 's room for laughs and truth at this newly reopened address . A -

See the full article at EW.com

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`` 21 Jump Street '' morphs into an action comedy with a tonal complexity

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What this interpretation sacrifices in teachable moments , it makes up for in intelligent giddiness

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Channing Tatum has got bust-out talents as a really funny , self-aware comic actor